Business needs to embrace Hong Kong values

On its face, the book, Land and the Ruling Class in Hong Kong, looks an unlikely hit of the Hong Kong book fair. The insider story on the property sector is no doubt a valuable piece of work for academics and policy-movers and shakers. It does not appear to be the kinds of titles that would sell well in the book fair season.


Speaking to the South China Morning Post last week, the author Alice Poon Wai-han revealed almost 4,000 copies have been sold since the Chinese title was published in late June. Fewer than 600 copies of the original book in English were sold since it was published in 2005.


If the Chinese title has become a sensation, it is because it has rubbed the sensitive nerves of some quarters in the society. Against the background of anti-business sentiments, the controversy surrounding Henderson Land’s 39 Conduit Road project has again put the issue of alleged malpractices of major developers in public limelight.


More importantly, it sparked off fresh concerns about the unpalatable aspects of the city’s free-wheeling capitalist economy as highlighted in Poon’s Chinese title, which could be translated as “The Hegemony of Real Estate.” In her book, Poon has observed weak government and the dominance of Hong Kong tycoons contributed to the formation of cartels in the real estate market as well as in telecoms, retailing and utilities.


The alleged cartel structure of Hong Kong business aside, certain practices of corporations and tycoons have been the subject of much controversy in the past week.


Take the case of the massive outburst against tycoon Simon Lo Lin-shing’s failed bid to build a beachside home at the scenic Sai Wan site. It has reflected the sea of public discontent about the dominance of developers from prime sites for business and residential purposes to uninhibited green areas in the countryside.


Another disturbing case involves the transfer of the private data of holders of Octopus Card by the company to its two business partners in an undisclosed arrangement. It has reinforced public perception about the collusion of businesses in seeking profits at the expense of consumers’ rights and privacy.
 

Last week, a delegation from the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association told top Chinese officials during a visit in Beijing functional constituency elections have their own merits and therefore should be retained.
 

With opinion polls showing a consistent majority of people in favor of scrapping the “small-circle” election, the attempt by the business body to lobby Beijing for keeping the electoral system amounts has back-fired.
 

It has deepened public feeling that the business sector has enjoyed special privileges for their voices to be heard and views heeded in Beijing.
 

Unrelated though they are, the recent string of controversies that involved business figures and chamber and corporations has and will inflict damages to the public image and perception towards the business sector.
 

Unlike other places where class conflicts are more acute and anti-business sentiments are more prevalent, Hong Kong has arguably not yet seen any organised mass movement against conglomerates and the business sector as a whole.
 

That said, a feeling of intolerance, dismay and discontent towards the approach and practices of the Hong Kong corporate has begun to spread in the society.
 

To be fair, the business sector is waking up to the winds of change in the socio-political landscape.
 

Abandoning its low-key approach and secretive image, the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association, for instance, has sought to rejuvenate their role and presence in the local political scene recently.
 

Former Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun has revealed a plan is underway to set up a multi-million-dollar business fund for helping the poor and the under-privileged.
 

At the corporate level, major blue-chip companies, particular those in real estate sector, have intensified efforts in promoting corporate social responsibility activities in addition to their bosses’ donations to universities and schools.
 

As part of their image-building strategy, major corporations and their leaders have also stepped up funding for cultural and sports activities.
 

Those initiatives aimed at engaging with the community stem from a greater sense of awareness among the business sector changes in the political and policy environment have become increasingly relevant to their investments.
 

While catching up to grasp the complexities of the range of political, social issues, many in the business sector have begun to understand the imperatives of participating in order to influence the course of developments.
 

If the business sector has not yet found an answer to the question of how to participate, it is because of the obsessed belief among the conservatives that their interests have and will be well taken care of by the central and Hong Kong governments. Simply put, many have remained reluctant to take a dip into the muddy political waters since elective politics was introduced in the 1980s.
 

It was almost three decades ago when state leaders met regularly with the power and the rich from Hong Kong in Zhongnanhai to address their concerns about the 1997 handover. Those days are gone.
 

With the society’s values, culture and political process rapidly changing, the business sector can no longer live in the past and play the new game with the old approach.
 

Spending by big corporations for a good cause such as reading habit and culture of volunteering cannot be faulted. Its impact has become insignificant when set against glaring cases of failure to embrace society’s emerging core values such as environmental protection (the Sai Wan case) and fair and equal voting rights (functional constituency election).
 

Questions will remain in the minds of people about whether the business sector has a heart in making Hong Kong a better place to live.